Can openers



P 1961 D. T. CUSHLER ETAL 3,000,096

CAN OPENERS Original Filed Jan. 12. 1953 fnuerzZZz-zi' .Dcpniel 1" 6245/2457 and Elwin d. Mff'jom r zg'vm M+ United States Patent 3 Claims. CI. 30-10 This invention relates to can openers, and more particularly to that lever type of can opener which may be anchored to the can to be opened, its lever being then rocked so that an end portion thereof is forced through the top of the can to cut or punch a hole through which the contents of the can may be dispensed.

The main objects of the invention are to provide a can opener of the character indicated which may be conveniently applied and used on cans of a type which lack pronounced beads around their ends by which conventional can openers of the character indicated are pivotally anchored in place on the can to facilitate can opening movement of the lever as aforesaid; to provide such a can opener which will be operative to produce dispensing openings of substantially uniform size and shape in successive cans, thereby to facilitate the application of a pouring spout of predetermined size and shape to a succession of cans; to provide a rigid and durable can opener of the character indicated and one embodying relatively simple parts which may be manufactured at low cost and quickly and easily assembled; and other objects and advantages of the invention will be understood by reference to the following specification and accompanying drawing disclosing a can opener embodying a selected form of the invention.

In the drawing,

FIG. 1 is a side elevation in partial section, showing our improved can opener in use;

FIG. 2 is a top view of a can illustrating the form of dispensing opening produced by the can opener;

FIG. 3 is a perspective illustration of a type of pouring spout which may be inserted and seated in the dispensing opening formed by the can opener herein described;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are perspective illustrations of the component parts of the can opener;

FIG. 6 is a cross section on the plane indicated by the line 6-6 of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 7 is a cross section on the plane indicated by the line 7-7 of FIG. 4.

The can 1 shown in the drawing is typified by metal cans which are presently commonly used for the packing of condensed milk and perhaps other products. Its top and bottom end members 2 and 3 respectively, are secured to the marginal end portions of the can shown by mean of flanges such as indicated at 4, which extend from the periphery of the ends 2 and 3 into overlapping relation to the margins of the body of the can. These flanges 4 are usually of only the thickness of the metal of which the can ends are made, and they provide shoulders such as indicated at 5, which are too small to permit anchoring of conventional can openers on the can end.

The can opener shown by the drawing comprises a can side engaging elongated support 6 which has a fixed ledge 7 extending laterally from its lower end. Such support is formed with similar upper and lower pairs of edgewise extending ears 8 and 9 respectively, which are preferably bent slightly out of the plane of the body portion of the support so as to produce a more or less arcuate transverse shape in the areas of said ears to more or less fit the curvature of a can body and to provide a somewhat wider area of engagement with the side of the can than is aflorded by the main body portion of the support. To strengthen said support, it is formed with a centrally disposed elongated rib 10 pressed outwardly from the support along most of the length thereof as shown. The upper end of the support is integrally formed with a pair of opposed edgewise-extending trunnions 11-11. The described support may readily be stamped and formed from sheet metal of desired thickness.

The other major component of the can opener is a lever member 12 which embodies a handle member 13 and a can puncturing blade 14, the latter being of more or less triangular shape and pointed to the free end of the lever. The blade 14 is bent to an angle of about 45 relative to the length of the handle member. Adjacent the junction of the blade 14 and handle member there is provided a pair of aligned bearings 15-15 on opposite edges of the lever, these hearings being adapted to receiving the trunnions 11 so as to pivotally mount the lever on the support.

The bearings 15 are formed from strips of metal partially cut out of the handle member and rolled to tubular form, as shown, leaving recesses 16-16 in the opposite edges of the handle member adjacent the juncture of said blade and member. As shown, the bearings cars 15 are formed to project from the plane of the handle 13 in the same direction that the blade 14 is bent to its aforesaid angular position. For assembly purposes, the bearings 15-15 are each initially formed into a U shape so that they may be hooked over the trunnions 11, after which they are subjected to further rolling or bending to close the same into more or less completely circular form shown in FIG. 1. The lever 12 is also reinforced by means of an outwardly pressed rib 17 approximately coextensive With the handle 13.

The described can opener is used by seating 21 can to be opened upon the ledge 7 and adjusting such can into engagement with the support 6 or the ears 8 and 9 thereof, as shown in FIG. 1. The lever is initially in a position such as illustrated by broken lines in FIG. 1. The lever is then rocked about its fulcrum established by the trunnions 11 to move the blade 14 downwardly into engagement with the can top, whereupon further rocking of the lever to the position shown in full lines in FIG. 1 will cause said blade to cut out of the can top and bend downwardly into the can a triangular ear 18, the latter remaining integrally connected to the top along a line 19 on which said car 18 is bent.

A stop pin 20 is secured to the upper end portion of the support so that it will overlie the can top although not necessarily in engagement with the latter. Said stop pm is preferably located in the support closely adjacent to the can top. Said stop pin is 'engageable by the blade 14 when the lever 12 has been rocked sufliciently to form an opening 21 of predetermined size. It will be seen that cans of the same depth will be so engaged by the openerthat their tops will always occupy substantially the same relationship to the fulcrum of the lever. Hence, the openings 21 formed in like cans will be of substantially like size and shape.

Certain products packaged in cans of the type illustrated, are distIibuted in two standardized sizes of cans, the larger of which is represented in FIG. 1. For accommodating the described can opener to cans of the smaller standard size (not shown), the support 6 is provided with an auxiliary ledge pin 22 received in an opening 23 of the support and slidable in such opening to project selectively to either side of the support. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, the auxiliary ledge pin 22 is in its outwardly projected position of non-use, and said pin is provided with headed ends 249 and 24b it will be seen that by seating the smaller sized; or

shorter cans on the pin 22, their tops will have the same relationship to the axis of the tmnnions 11 as the tops of the larger sized cans supported on the;lower endledge 7 as illustrated in FIG. 1, and that when the lever 12 is rocked until its puncturing blade engages the stop pin 20, the same sized openingmay beproduced in both;

sizes of cans.

With the described means for producing uniform dis pensing openings in bothstandardsizes of cans, it is convenient to employ a pouring spout 25 'of the charac-,

Said

ter indicated in FIG. 3 for use with such cans. spout comprises a triangular base portion 26of-compressible plastic 'or rubber material of a size to fit frictionally in the opening 21, the friction fit being such that the spout will be efiiectively held, in place on the can. The production of substantially uniformly sized and shaped openings in the can topsis'thus highly advantageous in connection withthe use of apouringspout of the character indicated,

The stop pin 20 is shown in FIG. 7 as having the form of a shouldered rivet anchored in place by atheaded end portion. This rivet form of stop pinispreferred in that it facilitates the provision of any; desired length of such pin. The latter may, of'course, be replaced by an ear punched and bent out of-the support 6, but this is considered somewhat less desirable for the reason that such a punchedand bent ear'necessitates a' relatively large opening or slot in the support which will weaken the latter adjacent the trunnions 11;where relatively great strength is desirable. However, in some instances a punched and inwardly bent stop, pin may be satisfactorily-employed.

Various other changes may be made in the described construction while retaining theprinciples of the invention.

What we claim is:

1. An opener for a can having upper andlower ends,

said opener including a lever and a cutting blade formed by an end portion of such lever, a handle member rigidly extending from said blade, an elongated support for said lever exteriorly engageable with a can wall and proportioned to extend approximately from end to end of an engaged can, ,meansforfulcruming the lever on the upper end of said support substantially at the juncture of said blade and handlemember, such means establishing a substantially horizontal axis, about which the blade may be forced downwardly to puncture the upper end of'said can, atstopmemb'er fixed i011 saidzsupp ort below, and adjacent to the fulcrum means and projecting toward the axisiof said can, above theupper end of the can'and engageable by the blade in its downwardtraveltodefinitely limit such travel, anda ledge. on the lower endofthe support form:

ing a seat for the can, said ledge projecting toward the. can axis, and a seatingielementifor a smaller canof a height; materially less thanthat intended to seaton said ledge, such elementbeing-slidable in said support, to and from-the axisof a can engaged by thesupport and being predeterminedly upwardly spaced from said ledge, whereby said element: when shifted toward the can axis serves to seat saidismaller can and when shifted from said axis permits functioning. of said ledge to seat a larger can.

2. A can opener as set forth inlclaim 1, said seating element being apinidisposed transversely to the support and havingits ends headed to limit sliding ofsuch pin.

3. A canopener as set forth in claim 2, said support having a rib extending centrally and longitudinally of the support, and deflected to one side of the support, whereby, an,,elongated recess is formed at the opposite side, of the support, said recess receiving one of the heads of said pinjna limiting position of sliding of the pin.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,001,303 Farrell May 14, 1935 2,059,367 Kittle Nov. 3, 1936 2,546,257 Eckman Mar. 27, 1951 2,596,476 Forstrom May 13, 1952 2,631,365 Geipel Mar. 17, 1953 2,638,666 Mayo et a1. May 19, 1953 2,677,882 Scheringer May 11, 1954 2,691,821. Geipel Oct. 19, 1954 

